Multi-hydrogenated species with proper symmetry properties can present different spin configurations, and thus exist under different spin symmetry forms, labeled as para and ortho for two-hydrogen molecules. We investigated here the ortho-to-para ratio (OPR) of H$_2$Cl$^+$ in the light of new observations performed in the z=0.89 absorber toward the lensed quasar PKS 1830-211 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Two independent lines of sight were observed, to the southwest (SW) and northeast (NE) images of the quasar, with OPR values found to be $3.15 \pm 0.13$ and $3.1 \pm 0.5$ in each region, respectively, in agreement with a spin statistical weight of 3:1. An OPR of 3:1 for a molecule containing two identical hydrogen nuclei can refer to either a statistical result or a high-temperature limit depending on the reaction mechanism leading to its formation. It is thus crucial to identify rigorously how OPRs are produced in order to constrain the information that these probes can provide. To understand the production of the H$_2$Cl$^+$ OPR, we undertook a careful theoretical study of the reaction mechanisms involved with the aid of quasi-classical trajectory calculations on a new global potential energy surface fit to a large number of high-level ab initio data. Our study shows that the major formation reaction for H$_2$Cl$^+$ produces this ion via a hydrogen abstraction rather than a scrambling mechanism. Such a mechanism leads to a 3:1 OPR, which is not changed by destruction and possible thermalization reactions for H$_2$Cl$^+$ and is thus likely to be the cause of observed 3:1 OPR ratios, contrary to the normal assumption of scrambling.

M dwarfs are the most numerous stars in our Galaxy, with masses between approximately 0.5 and 0.1 solar masses. Many of them show surface activity qualitatively similar to our Sun and generate flares, high X-ray fluxes and large-scale magnetic fields. Such activity is driven by a dynamo powered by the convective motions in their interiors. Understanding properties of stellar magnetic fields in these stars finds a broad application in astrophysics, including theory of stellar dynamos and environment conditions around planets that may be orbiting these stars. Most stars with convective envelopes follow a rotation–activity relationship where various activity indicators saturate in stars with rotation periods shorter than a few days. The activity gradually declines with rotation rate in stars rotating more slowly. It is thought that, due to a tight empirical correlation between X-ray radiance and magnetic flux, the stellar magnetic fields will also saturate, to values around 4 kG. Here we report the detection of magnetic fields above the presumed saturation limit in four fully convective M dwarfs. By combining results from spectroscopic and polarimetric studies, we explain our findings in terms of bistable dynamo models: stars with the strongest magnetic fields are those in a dipole dynamo state, whereas stars in a multipole state cannot generate fields stronger than about 4 kG. Our study provides observational evidence that the dynamo in fully convective M dwarfs generates magnetic fields that can differ not only in the geometry of their large-scale component, but also in the total magnetic energy.